Wednesday, January 31, 2018

I remembe staying up to see this in 1973 on the Midnight Special TV show, which came on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. The song finally came at the very end of the show. IT was worth the wait.

My maternal grandfather actually heard about this song before I did. His name was Leon Brown, and he said a guy on the radio was singing a song about him! My grandfather was a retired Methodist preacher, and I couldn't begin to imagine someone on the radio had written a song about him.

That very day . . . I heard "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" on the radio. I bought the sheet music and learned the song in less than a week. And . . . I had to learn how to bar chord on a 12-string guitar. I had a cramped hand for a long time. Actually, it still cramps my hand to play this song the way Jim did.

A fun song that people will sing with you . . . even senior adults in nursing homes. It's fun, and it's lively, and people enjoy the chorus.

What song makes you happy when you sing or play it on your favorite instrument?

I remember this song from my high school years. I memorized it back in 1975 and sang it at youth group gatherings and assemblies.

My parents were winding up a divorce in 1975. Dad moved out, and things got quieter and a bit more stable. But it was 1975, and friends were telling me that I was from a broken home. Someone asked how it felt that my life was over.

Really?

I knew I had a name, a purpose, a vision, a passion. College was calling, my first time to leave home. In college I met the woman who would become my wife to this day (42 years of marriage). I found that ministry was where I belonged, and I found that I could still get people to sing with me in various places and locals. Although I mostly "speak" for a living, I have been able to sing for people in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and in my home state of Texas.

Moving ahead so life won't pass me by . . . that's the last line of the chorus of this song. I've kept ahead . . . it's been hark work. But fruitful work, because at my last breath, I will be able to clearly say, and believe . . . I know who I am!

Has a song every spoken to you at an important time in your life? Has a song every provided you with inspiration to keep on moving forward?

Jim Newton and Paul Hill taught me a faster version of this song when I trained with them in therapeutic music entertainment singing for children in hospitals. I close most of my performances with this song, and enjoy doing so. I will always be able to relate to this song, and I thank Mac Davis for writing it. One of his best.

What song means the world to you? What instrument do you love to play?

A great video featuring actor and guitarist, Jeff Daniels at the Martin Guitar Museum in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Jeff is an accomplished guitarist who plays a very unique Martin Guitar. Martin historian, Dick Boak, is the interviewer.

Do you have a favorite musical instrument? What kind of relationship do you have with it?

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Recovery from double knee replacement surgery has been slow, but steady. I'm in my sixth week of home therapy, and yesterday made the change from using my walker to using a cane.

And not just any cane either. My cane is a cut-down shepherds crook that I purchased in Eureka Springs, Arkansas many years ago. It must be at least 20 years old. I actually cut it to size and began using it several weeks before my surgeries. I took this cane with me at the hospital. It was, and still is, a symbol of several goals I've set for myself after my recovery is complete.

One goal is to have strong enough knees so I can return as one of the summer chaplains at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, perhaps in 2019 or 2020. The shepherds crook is the symbol of BSA chaplains, and it symbolizes my truest and most honest understanding of what being a servant leader and minister is all about. Someone who carrys a shepherds crook is someone whose passion is serving, helping, and watching over others.

My other goal is to again seek out and more fully clarify the ways I am passionate about serving others. That's where music comes in.

I'm currently on a sort of short-term leave from my church so that I can focus on healing and fully recovering from surgery. One of the things I "parked" in order to do so was singing and playing the guitar (or any other musical instrument for that matter). Pain meds were affecting my concentration. Now that my dosage continues to be reduced, my mind, and focus are back, and I find I miss performing a great deal. Hopefully in late March I can be well enough to carry, or "roll" my guitar and equipment into the venues where I provide therapeutic music entertainment. (More to come on a portable rolling cart I'm currently designing using a Rigid brand wheeled tool chest base.)

More posts and pictures coming soon.

God's grace, and the healing of mind and body, still amazes me . . . ><>

Funny thing about playing a 12-string guitar . . . I play it a lot differently than I do a 6-string guitar. How do I play a 12-string g...

THANKS FOR DROPPING IN . . .

Welcome to the blog of Rev. Rick Mang, a United Methodist clergyman who lives in Texas where he serves as pastor of a church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Rick is also a Certified Therapeutic Music Entertainer who sings for senior adults in area nursing, rehab and retirement homes, and in senior activity centers. Rick also sings for different church and community groups and events as his schedule allows.

I have been blessed to have had several mentors along my life's journery. Joe Laughlin was one of them. Joe was my "adopted" big brother, best friend, guitar and vocal mentor, and fellow Christian folk philospher. It's beem over 4 years since his death. I still miss him very much.

CHILDREN'S WORSHIP CD

I still have a few copies of my Children's Worship CD. Contact me by email at revrickmang@gmail.com to get a copy! Postage paid in the US. They are free for the asking!

Would you like to share your story about your favorite musical instrument?

I am soliciting stories about people and their favorite instruments to make music with. If you would like to share your story, then please contact me at revrickmang@gmail.com. I will get back with you to soon.

DISCLAIMER . . .

It goes without saying . . .

The thoughts, opinions, ideas, stories, meditations, prayers, and other information written anywhere on this blog are usually my own ramblings and responses to things I have seen, heard, read or witnessed. I write out of the ever changing and conflicted struggle that exists between my head and my heart as I try to live out my life mission in the best and most productive way I can.

What I write or share in no way reflects the views of any church, denomination, political party, friend, relative, writer, musical group, musician friend, artist, fishing buddy, fellow hiker, walker, other blogger, city, state, county, nation, or for that matter anybody else you possibly could ever hope to think of.

Sometimes, the words and thoughts of others are so well written, and touch me so deeply, that I am moved to share them. When and if I share the words and thoughts of others, I honestly try to give and acknowledge appropriate credit, and will do so if you bring it to my attention that I haven't.